Each month Aaron Morris, aka SirScrapalot, shares productivity tips and stories from his simple scrapbooking life.
Every fall, I tend to take a break from my online life. Being a teacher, this is one of the busiest times of year for me. Getting ready for school to start, and then putting the routines in order for a successful year seem to take everything out of me. So usually, around Labor Day, I take some time off from the online world.
This year, I had planned on taking a two week hiatus. Yet here we are, almost 7 weeks later and I’ve still not returned fully to my online life. It’s not that I don’t want to; I just can seem to get going again. Now, I’ve become determined to get back into my online life, and this is how I plan to do it.
- Let go – The longer I stay away, the more and more I worry about what it will be like when I come back. I’ve filled my head with worry and doubt about what might happen when I return. I need to let all of these feelings go. They are just in my own mind, and I need to not let them take over.
- Make some decisions about what’s important – As I slowly make my way back into my online life, I’ve started to really look at what is important to me about my online life. Some things will be left behind. It’s kind of like cleaning house; I need to trim the fat. This way, it’s easier for me to get back to the few things that I’ve decided to keep up.
- Just do it – I’ve given this advice many times before, and now it’s time for me to take it. The biggest hurdle I need to jump in getting back into my online life is to just get back to it. The hardest part is getting started.
I know it won’t be perfect, but I am committed to getting back to the life I had before school started. I know that I’m not alone; everyone has a hard time getting back on track at some time. What things do you do when you have a hard time getting started?
Great topic for discussion!
I think finding time for creativity is a lot like trying to find time to work out at a gym, or to go for a run. As the saying goes, the hardest part, is putting the shoes on.
It’s a lot like scrapping for me. If I think about all the projects I ‘need’ to do, all the hundreds of photos that need to be edited and printed, all the school photos that haven’t been scrapped, etc. it seems so daunting to even start. So I just put ‘my shoes on’ so to speak. I do a task that would take me 15 min. I tell myself that I’ll just edit and upload to order 3 photos (not 30), I’ll clean off my desk and if I feel like it, I might pull out some supplies.
The biggest hurdle is getting STARTED. But I found out, that when you do start with the 15 min. task, it picks up momentum and you do not want to stop after 15 min.
I agree – great topic! I usually take an extended break over the summer, from both the blogosphere & scrapbooking. I’ve always struggled to get my mojo back. I find it helpful to browse a few creative blogs & then pick one fabulous piece of scrapbook paper. Then I’m inspired & I’ve found a jumping off point.
Irma P also mentioned the best tip ever, in my books anyway! Start with 15 minutes. It’s true, at the end of the 15 minutes, I don’t want to stop!
How very timely! I just came from a 5-day break and I am still trying to find my way back to online life. It’s a good thing that I finished everything that I had to accomplish before going on a trip so I did not have to worry about anything while I am on a vacation or upon coming back. I think that is one thing that I learned during this trip, or while preparing for it. When I accomplished my online tasks prior to the trip, I get to enjoy it and not think about what I have to do (and cram like I always do) once I get back.
Great article! Thanks and Aaron, you’re awesome!